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Suspect In Plot To Bomb Jets Considered Attack On Nuclear Plant, Agent Testifies

August 06, 1996|By From Tribune News Services.

NEW YORK — An FBI agent testified Monday that one of three Muslim extremists accused of plotting to bomb U.S. passenger jets told the agent he had also considered bombing a U.S. nuclear facility.

FBI agent Francis Pellegrino said Abdul Hakim Murad "stated he had talked about possibly bombing a nuclear facility in the United States."

"He said the reason for the bombings was to make the American people and the American government suffer for their support of Israel," he added. The agent escorted Murad from the Philippines to the U.S. last year.

The jurors will have to decide if the three defendants plotted to destroy a dozen U.S. planes and kill 4,000 passengers in a 48-hour period last year.

The alleged ringleader of the airline bomb scheme is Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, who is to be tried later this year on charges that he masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people.